Bubblegum Mania · guides · product guide · Sep 20, 2026

Bubblegum Mania: The Full Guide to Every Ingredient

The full product guide

Bubblegum Mania.
Every ingredient, and why.

We built this brand on a rule that most of the tanning shelf ignores: if an ingredient cannot justify itself, it does not go in. No token actives at trace amounts to earn a mention on the front of the tube. No fillers. No names on the website that are not on the label. It is why we are one of the only tanning brands willing to go through the whole list and explain what every single ingredient is there to do. This is that explanation for the cream people would not let us discontinue.

24ingredients, every one explained below

5melanin-supporting actives

2things changed since the original: the base and the stack

0DHA, bronzer, colourant or tint

1Why it came back 2The melanin stack 3What you feel 4What protects you 5The last four 6Versus the shelf 7How to use it 8FAQ

Same Next-Gen formula as Island Coconut and Electric Melon. The scent is the only thing that changes. We do not water a formula down to sell a flavour.

Every active sits above the fragrance. Below that line is housekeeping, and we tell you what it is.

No colour in the tube. Bubblegum Mania works with UV. It does not paint you pink, brown or orange.

A 10p-sized amount per area. Thin and even. More does not work better.

Part one

Why it came back

Bubblegum Mania was discontinued. We cleared the last of it and moved on, and then we spent months reading messages asking where it had gone. So it is back, but not as it was. The original sat on our first-generation base. This one is built on the Next-Gen formula we developed for Island Coconut: a proper skincare base with aloe, shea and coconut underneath, and a five-part melanin stack on top, including MelanoBronze. The scent is the one you remember. Everything under it is better.

We could have brought back the old tube and sold nostalgia. We brought back the name and rebuilt everything else.

Part two

The melanin stack: five actives, one for each step

Skin makes pigment in stages. It needs a raw material, an enzyme, a mineral for that enzyme, a signal to switch production on, and a way to move finished melanin up to the surface where you can see it. Most sunbed creams address one of those stages, usually the raw material, usually low on the list. Bubblegum Mania addresses all five, and every one sits above the fragrance line.

Stage 1: the raw materialN-Acetyl-L-TyrosineTop ten

The amino acid your skin turns into melanin, in its stable, better-absorbed acetylated form. It sits in the top ten of the list, ahead of every emollient except the base. Check where tyrosine sits on any other tube; if it is after the fragrance, there is not much of it.

Stage 2: the signalMelanoBronzeLicensed complex

A licensed complex from Solabia, made from monk's pepper fruit extract, that supports the signalling which tells your melanocytes to start producing pigment when UV arrives. It makes each session count sooner and more evenly. It needs light; it does nothing on its own and it is not a self-tan. It is on the label under its INCI name.

Stage 3: the mineralCopper gluconateMid list

Tyrosinase, the enzyme that converts tyrosine into melanin, runs on copper. Copper gluconate is a gentle form that makes it available. A small amount by design, because a cofactor is not a bulk ingredient.

Stage 4: the reinforcementAcetyl hexapeptide-1Mid list

A peptide that mimics the messenger your body uses to tell pigment cells to get going. Where MelanoBronze primes the response, the peptide backs it up. Peptides cost more than anything else in a cream like this, which is why you rarely see one on a sunbed shelf.

Stage 5: the transferNiacinamideTop ten

Vitamin B3, in the top ten. It supports the skin barrier, and it is involved in moving melanin from the cells that make it into the cells you can see. Producing pigment is only half the job; niacinamide is here for the other half.

A typical scented sunbed cream

Tyrosine, low on the listFragrance high upCofactor, signal, transfer

One active and a lot of scent. Smells like a tan. Is a moisturiser.

Bubblegum Mania

Acetyl tyrosineMelanoBronzeCopperPeptideNiacinamide

Five stages covered. The fragrance is near the bottom, where it belongs.

Part three

What you feel: the base

The first six ingredients are what your hands notice. Bubblegum Mania is light for a cream, absorbs fast and leaves nothing on the sunbed, and that comes from what we chose here and what we left out.

Ingredients 1 and 2Water, then aloe leaf juice

A water-based cream that starts with water, which is less obvious in this market than it should be. Aloe is second on the list, not buried at the end: it hydrates, cools, and takes the edge off skin after a session.

Ingredients 3 and 4Shea butter, then coconut oil

Shea softens skin and slows water loss, which is what keeps a tan from flaking away early. Coconut oil gives the cream its slip and absorbs clean because it is held in an emulsion rather than poured on as an oil. No film on the acrylic, no grease under sunscreen.

Ingredients 5 and 6Glycerin, then caprylic/capric triglyceride

Glycerin pulls water into the top layer of skin and holds it. The triglyceride is a coconut-derived emollient that spreads the cream evenly and sinks in. It is here instead of a silicone, which would feel silky for a moment and then sit on the surface doing nothing.

Part four

What protects you: nine for the skin

UV is a stress. A cream that pushes melanin and ignores that is asking skin to do more with less. These nine are why Bubblegum Mania feels like a body cream you would use on a day off.

Panthenol (pro-vitamin B5) calms and conditions, and takes the tight feeling out of post-session skin.

Squalane (olive-derived) is a light oil that mirrors skin's own, absorbs without residue and supports the barrier.

Tocopherol (vitamin E) is an antioxidant that helps deal with the free radicals UV creates, and keeps the plant oils fresh.

Ascorbyl glucoside (stable vitamin C) is a form of vitamin C that survives in a cream, for antioxidant support and an even tone.

Beta-glucan is an oat-derived soother and deep hydrator, one of the gentlest calming ingredients in skincare.

Ceramide NP replaces the mortar between skin cells that UV depletes, so the barrier holds and the tan holds with it.

Ectoin helps cells cope with UV and heat stress. Almost unheard of in tanning creams, which is why it is in ours.

Liquorice root extract (glabridin) is anti-inflammatory and evening, so colour builds uniform rather than patchy.

Caffeine gives mild antioxidant and firming support. It is here for skin, not for a tingle, and it sits low among the actives on purpose.

Part five

The last four

Fragrance: the bubblegum, and it sits below every active in the list. Carbomer: a thickener that gives the cream its body. Phenoxyethanol and ethylhexylglycerin: the preservative system that keeps a water-based cream safe in a warm bathroom. Citric acid or sodium hydroxide: a pH adjuster to bring the cream to skin's own slightly acidic level. That is the complete list. Nothing hidden, and nothing on this page that is not printed on the tube.

Part six

Versus the shelf

Scented sunbed creams are a crowded category, and most of what is in it is scent. Here is how Bubblegum Mania sits against the alternatives.

Versus a scented accelerator. Most run one active, low on the list, under a lot of fragrance. Bubblegum Mania runs five, all above the fragrance. Smell is the last thing we add, not the first.

Versus a bronzer lotion. Instant colour from DHA or a tint, which washes off, streaks and goes orange when over-applied. Bubblegum Mania gives you nothing on day one and your own colour by session three.

Versus the original Bubblegum Mania. Same scent. New skincare base, and a five-part stack with MelanoBronze instead of a simpler one. If you loved the old tube, this is the same idea, done properly.

Versus the other Next-Gen creams. Identical formula. Pick by scent: coconut, melon or bubblegum. We would rather you chose on smell than on marketing.

What Bubblegum Mania is not

Not instant, because there is no colour in it. Not a sunscreen; wear one over it outdoors. Not a tingle. And not a self-tan: every active here works with UV, not instead of it. If you want colour without sun or sunbed, that is a different product and we do not make one.

Part seven

How to use it

Prep: exfoliate the day before, not the day of. Clean, dry skin before you apply.

Apply: a 10p-sized amount per area, spread into a thin, even layer and massaged in until it disappears. The actives work in the top layer of skin and absorb in minutes; a thick coat sits on the surface, ends up on the bed or under your sunscreen and does nothing extra. Thin and even is how the formula was designed to be used, and it is why a tube lasts as long as it does.

Sunbed: give it a few minutes, then follow the salon's times. Moisturise after.

Outdoors: sunscreen over the top, reapplied every two hours and after swimming. Reapply Bubblegum Mania after towelling if you have been in the water a lot.

Expect: priming in sessions one and two, a visible difference by session two or three, a proper base in two to three weeks of regular use.

The day-by-day version is in your first two weeks with Delux.

Quick answers

Frequently asked

Is Bubblegum Mania the same formula as before?

No. The scent is the same. The cream underneath is the Next-Gen formula: a new skincare base and a five-part melanin stack including MelanoBronze.

Does Bubblegum Mania contain bronzer or DHA?

No. There is no colourant of any kind. The colour you build is your own melanin.

Can I use it on a sunbed?

Yes. It is water-based and kind to sunbed acrylics.

Does it work in the sun?

Yes, with a separate sunscreen over the top. It contains no SPF.

How much should I apply?

A 10p-sized amount per area, spread thin and even. More does not work better; it sits on the surface. Used this way a 200ml tube lasts weeks of regular sessions.

Which Next-Gen cream should I pick?

They share one formula. Choose by scent: Island Coconut, Electric Melon or Bubblegum Mania.

Back by demand. Rebuilt on purpose.

The scent you asked for, on the formula we would have built first if we had known what we know now.

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